After moping on Boracay, I wanted to go to another island. Trouble was that I had to get back to Manila and then take a two hour drive down to the coast. By the time I arrived at the port, it was six p.m. and the boats had long stopped running. Never mind, I just threw myself into the trusty company of the local brigade of pirates, who speedily arranged a super-dodgy, super expensive "special trip" for me across ninety minutes worth of choppy seas under cover of pitch darkness. Justice for my stupidity would have had me shot in the head, or at least bereaved of the laptop computer, camcorder, credit cards, plane tickets and passports I was carrying. But I arrived safe enough, emboldened to commit yet more acts of brain explosion in the future. Travel is nothing without adventure and adventure is nothing without serious stupidity.